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Kamara - this man fills cinemas

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Taken from BBC Sport website.

Kei Kamara''s Norwich City debut ''fills Sierra Leone cinemas''

Norwich striker Kei Kamara has said his Premier League debut at the

weekend would have created a massive buzz in his home country of Sierra

Leone.

The 28-year-old, on loan from Major League Soccer side Kansas City, came off the bench in

a draw against Fulham.

"They say all the cinemas were full. I don''t even know

what it would have been like out there," the forward told BBC Radio

Norfolk.

Kei Kamara''s MLS career

Kai Kamara

Club

Games

Goals

Kansas City (2009-12)

98

31

Houston Dynamo (2008-09)

32

7

San Jose (2008)

12

2

Columbus Crew (2006-07)

36

5

"There''s going to be a bunch of yellow shirts out there with my name on it."

Kamara moved to the United States as a refugee aged 16

after two years in Gambia, during a period of civil war in Sierra Leone.

He came through the USA college system and earned a

draft to MLS side Columbus Crew in 2006, before moving on to San Jose,

Houston and then Kansas.

The signing of Kamara, who has 14 international caps, was

confirmed before January''s transfer deadline,

but he did not receive international clearance until last week.

"After the move became official, for Norwich''s last

game against QPR everybody was in the cinemas thinking I was playing,"

he said after playing the last five minutes against the Cottagers.

"It''s a good thing my phone doesn''t work right now because if it did I would be having so many phone calls.

"I represent my country wherever I go but being here now - it''s the talk of the town.

"If I do well people might recognise where I''m from, maybe they will Google Sierra Leone a little bit more.

"When I go to the national team, everybody always asks,

''when are you going to England?'' because it''s basically the only game

that''s screened all around the world."

Canaries boss Chris Hughton admitted he had been apprehensive about using Kamara against Fulham as the forward

has not played a competitive game since November.

"He''s in for a short period of time," said Hughton.

"The worst thing is, if you put him in too early and he gets an injury, then you end up not having him for a few weeks.

"So we took a chance but I liked what I saw."

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[quote user="Nuff Said"]In Sierra Leone? Perhaps you ought to google it, like the man says.
[/quote]

Got my own little personal welcome for him at the Everton match, Sure it will give him a big lift 

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Poor countries with a huge divides still have rich people in the capital. Slight sales boost but nothing like getting a China / Korean / South American idle.

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I doubt there will be a single official Norwich shirt in the country.

Will be thousands of *ahem* ''replica'' shirts being sold for a quid a pop though.

Perhaps we could all get together as Norwich fans and bundle together as many old shirts as we can, give them to Kia Kamara, and get him to give them away when he goes over there?

That would be an awesome gesture.

Sierre Leone is where Craig Bellamy has set up his charity foundation by the way, has put in a lot of money to build a school and football academy.

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Sierre Leone has a GDP of $1100 per capita, I don''t think you are grasping just how poor that country is.

It is the 14th poorest country in the world, poorer than Ethiopia...... there is no capital city full of wealthy people buying £50 replica shirts.

The country was devastated by 11 years of civil war which ended in 2001.

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[quote user="singupcarrowroad"]Sierre Leone has a GDP of $1100 per capita, I don''t think you are grasping just how poor that country is. It is the 14th poorest country in the world, poorer than Ethiopia...... there is no capital city full of wealthy people buying £50 replica shirts. The country was devastated by 11 years of civil war which ended in 2001.[/quote]

I have been going to Kenya for a few years now, and do charity work in the local schools, much of what you take over is taxed on by the Government, Which is probably the most corrupt, I sort of adopted a young family and send them money every month, the head of the house ,Oscar only earns around 50p a day, he works at the hotel we stay at. there are a few Norwich shirts around Mombasa now,   The idea of sending shirts to KK home town is just fantastic an idea and hope we can pull this off.

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[quote user="pete_norw"]

[quote user="singupcarrowroad"]Sierre Leone has a GDP of $1100 per capita, I don''t think you are grasping just how poor that country is. It is the 14th poorest country in the world, poorer than Ethiopia...... there is no capital city full of wealthy people buying £50 replica shirts. The country was devastated by 11 years of civil war which ended in 2001.[/quote]

I have been going to Kenya for a few years now, and do charity work in the local schools, much of what you take over is taxed on by the Government, Which is probably the most corrupt, I sort of adopted a young family and send them money every month, the head of the house ,Oscar only earns around 50p a day, he works at the hotel we stay at. there are a few Norwich shirts around Mombasa now,   The idea of sending shirts to KK home town is just fantastic an idea and hope we can pull this off.

[/quote]

 

I hope SPD is watching this thread as it would be greatif Archant gave some backing to pete_norwich''s idea. Would be a fantastic way to make KK feel at home and part of the Norwich family

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I was also thinking along these lines.  We could give a lot of pleasure to kids who get very little in life by donationg old shirts.  Great idea.   we could also get City lifelong fans in a country which is only going to get richer, stronger and better.

 

But also, what if the club allowed us to buy Kamara 16 shirts at cost price so that the Club donated its profit on the shirts and lettering on the basis that they are given to Kei to distribute.   I would gladly buy a couple happy in the thought that there would be kids proud to wear his shirt who would get more pride, pleasure and sense of purpose out of it than I ever would.

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[quote user="CambridgeCanary"]

I was also thinking along these lines.  We could give a lot of pleasure to kids who get very little in life by donationg old shirts.  Great idea.   we could also get City lifelong fans in a country which is only going to get richer, stronger and better.

 

But also, what if the club allowed us to buy Kamara 16 shirts at cost price so that the Club donated its profit on the shirts and lettering on the basis that they are given to Kei to distribute.   I would gladly buy a couple happy in the thought that there would be kids proud to wear his shirt who would get more pride, pleasure and sense of purpose out of it than I ever would.

[/quote]

I have a box of city shirts that I have been collecting for many years now and have said they will never go anywhere but. Will gladley donate them to  the KK collection I have around 60, as well as a signed  ball from the 04 season, I''m sure some kids would love that,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

=  

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I wish that I lived in Norwich because I''d take the bull by the horns and be the person to make this happen..... but I live too far away. I would however donate all 12 of my old Norwich shirts if somebody could make this reality.

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[quote user="singupcarrowroad"]I wish that I lived in Norwich because I''d take the bull by the horns and be the person to make this happen..... but I live too far away. I would however donate all 12 of my old Norwich shirts if somebody could make this reality.[/quote]

SPD Pete is now on it, so hope we can do it,I have all the time in the world to do this and would gladly spend time on this

 

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I''m absolutely beaming with joy to be honest at the simple fact that a spur of the moment idea is something that some great people are going to carry forward, can''t think of a better home for my old shirts! Legends!

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My Colman''s shirt needs a good home. That nice airtex material from which it''s made would be ideal for the climate! My long sleeved Proton one is probably less apporpriate but still, happy to send.

Either way it''s a brilliant idea singup. Delighted to contribute. Watching the space!

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I''m not going to take any credit for the mere idea, that has to go to whoever carries it forward.... and looks like being Pete & Pete, or one of the Pete''s, or Archant... or whoever. I can''t be the one who carries it forward*

* I will be very privately a little tiny bit proud that the idea struck a chord with some heroes who felt able and willing to take ownership of it though!

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[quote user="a1canary"]

My Colman''s shirt needs a good home. That nice airtex material from which it''s made would be ideal for the climate! My long sleeved Proton one is probably less apporpriate but still, happy to send.

Either way it''s a brilliant idea singup. Delighted to contribute. Watching the space!

[/quote]

I''m sure now that SDP has picked up on it we will have some idea of the collection/ Donation spot, I have since spoken to several fans and feel we could fill a 20ft Container.  but thats being very optimistic.

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I wonder if we could take this further. If all goes well with Kei (I have a feeling it will), could not we "twin" with a Sierra Leone club? I think it was, perhaps surprisingly, Jeremy Clarkson who suggested that towns twin with those less fortunate, rather than those who could provide local dignitaries with decent skiing facilities. I would be happy to support this sort of scheme in any way I could.

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I think twinning with a club or starting a foundation or whatever is probably a bit premature, because as things stand his contract with the club is a short term one, but filling a truck full of shirts is a wonderful gesture and a great start! It''s something that can be managed in the short time that he is with us.

The natural progression though I guess, if Kai becomes a long term City player, would probably be for him to form his own foundation (a little like Hucks and his trust) or perhaps even for the club to develop some links with Craig Bellamy''s foundation: http://www.craigbellamyfoundation.org/

I know that Bellamy severed some ties by celebrating a goal against us, but his work in Sierre Leone is very admirable and it makes a refreshing change for a footballer to invest a lot of his own money into making a difference when we see the likes of Chopra blowing his money on horse racing and running up debts with the criminal underworld!!

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I understand singupcarrowroad, I did say if all goes well.

The problem would be, even if Kei stayed a few years, our connection thereafter would become tenuous. But you never know, people can acquire a taste for helping others in genuine trouble & something more long-term could develop.

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The club are very likely to be helpful - 18 months ago I took a set of shirts from the League 1 season, donated by the club, to Zanzibar (there was an article in the Pinkun), where a local team still wear them!

Pretty sure NCFC sent lots of shirts out to Sierra Leone around 10 years ago - is it possible to search the official site that far back?

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[quote user="Sports Desk Pete"]Am on it. Watch this space...[/quote]

If you made this happen, Pete, I would (man)love you more than I already do.

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I''ve not yet heard back from David McNally.  I will post when I do.

 

Whilst I am fully behind the recycled shirt ideas and have some I will donate, I am not giving up on the parallel proposal that the club sells new shirts at cost with Kamara 16 on the back.  If we all got one of those for the project, imagine how made up some kid in Sierre Leone might be wearing that to the cinema to watch City.

 

Am I alone with this idea?

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I don''t think it''s a bad idea, I just think that it wouldn''t see much take up (having to actually buy a shirt), what with it being a recession and football being expensive already....

.... but giving up a treasured collection of old shirts is probably an even greater gesture than merely parting with a few pounds, because they have sentimental value and can be difficult to give up. One of the shirts that I will donate would fetch eighty quid on eBay, Sierre Leone can have it for free.

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